Australian Immigration Daily News

The purpose of the Federal Court and Federal Circuit Court Amendment (Fees) Regulations 2020 (the Regulations) is to increase the Federal Circuit Court application fee for migration litigants.

The amendments made by the Regulations do not change who is liable to pay a Federal Circuit Court application fee, but provide that those individuals who are migration litigants are to pay a higher fee. The increase fee is commensurate with the Federal Circuit Court’s placement in Australia’s court hierarchy. The increased fees are also accompanied by a partial fee exemption provision, which allows individuals to pay a reduced fee where paying the full fee would cause financial hardship. The existing full fee exemptions also continues to apply.

 Source: Federal-Court-and-Federal-Circuit-Court-Fees-2020.pdf and Federal-Court-and-Federal-Circuit-Court-fees-2020-Explanatory-Statement.pdf

The instrument repeals Migration (LIN 19/209: Arrangements for Certain Skilled and Temporary Graduate Visa Applications) Instrument 2019 (F2020C00274), made under subregulation 2.07(5) of the Regulations in accordance with subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (the AIA).

Subsection 33(3) of the AIA states that where an Act confers a power to make, grant or issue any instrument of a legislative or administrative character, the power shall be construed as including a power exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like conditions (if any) to repeal, rescind, revoke, amend, or vary any such instrument.

Source: LIN20162.pdf and LIN20162-Explanatory-Statement.pdf

The Founder and General Organiser of Migration Alliance, and Director of Legal Training Australia, RMA Liana Allan is a finalist in the MyBusiness Awards 2020 in the following categories:

• Business Leader of the Year 
• Businesswoman of the Year 

We are thrilled to share this news about our Founder with the migration advice profession.

The awards night is on 4 December 2020 at 6PM.

Migration Alliance received the following email from the AAT-MRD today:

I would like to provide an update regarding the Partner and Family visa video-hearing trial, detailed in the emails below. We are now inviting submissions to identify review applications considered suitable for video hearings for Partner and Family cases lodged to the Tribunal prior to 1 July 2018. 

Written submissions should be provided to the Tribunal by COB 27 November 2020. If you could circulate this update amongst your membership, that would be greatly appreciated.

Australia welcomes another significant step towards restarting Australia’s highly valued Pacific labour mobility programs and supporting our Pacific family, with the arrival of the first group of Tongan workers since Australia’s border restrictions came into effect in March.

This will also be the first time Pacific seasonal workers will be quarantined on farm, consistent with the Queensland Government’s approved guidelines. The 151 Tongan Seasonal Worker Programme participants will support Queensland’s horticultural producers who play an integral role in securing Australia’s food supply and boosting regional economies.

They follow on from the 323 workers who have arrived in the Northern Territory to date, from Vanuatu. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, said the Morrison Government is working with States and Territories, industry and Pacific governments, to ensure Australia’s valued Pacific labour mobility initiatives — the Seasonal Worker Programme and Pacific Labour Scheme — can resume safely.